Resting orientation enhances prey survival on strongly structured background

摘要: Prey can use various camouflage types as defense against predators. One of the most common and important is background matching, which occurs if an animal matches in color, brightness, pattern. Although matching has been studied intensively, effects resting orientation prey on effectiveness through are not well known natural conditions. Several past experimental studies have conducted lab often using visual system humans. Their results revealed that detection rates predators hinge combination artificial moths their background. Here, we whether survival moth-like models depend wild where conditions distances vary. We used a 2 × design two positions horizontally vertically striped morph tree bark. Our show probability depended mainly stripes relative to vertical structure Thus, affected survival. After reanalyzing Endler’s (Biol J Linn Soc 22:187–231, 1984) data habitats 317 species North American moths, found occurred frequently small herbs suggest it would be beneficial for orient non-randomly strongly structured background, like furrows further was more than coincident disruptive coloration determining our moths.